May 9, 2013

New York Post Offers Buyouts

Seeks 10 Percent Staff Reduction In Attempt To Avoid Layoffs

The New York Post is offering voluntary buyouts to newsroom employees, editor-in-chief Col Allan informed the staff today in a memo obtained by Capital.

The paper is aiming to reduce its headcount by 10 percent through the buyout packages, which will be discussed today with eligible employees.

Allan also indicated the paper could achieve the 10-percent reduction through "other measures if necessary," suggesting that layoffs are possible if not enough employees accept the buyouts.

"As we budgeted for the coming fiscal year, we took a careful look at our editorial spending and staffing levels, which have grown slowly over the last decade," Allan said in his memo. "We have always strived to be an efficient and resourceful news organization, and being so now is all the more important."

The buyouts come as the Post's parent corporation, News Corp., prepares to separate its publishing properties, which also include The Wall Street Journal and various newspapers in the U.K. and Australia, from the company's cash-cow television and film assetts. After the split, the publishing titles will no longer be cushioned by more lucrative brands such as Fox News.